The United States on Friday said it was willing to reconsider applications for H-1B work visas that were denied under the previous Donald Trump administration policies. Three memos by Trump administration have been rescinded after the President Joe Biden was elected to power.

H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

In a release on Friday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it will revisit the objections or adverse decisions to foreign workers.

It announced that a petitioner may request that it reopen or reconsider decisions based on the three rescinded policies – “Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements”; “Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving Third-Party Worksites” and “Rescission of the December 22, 2000 Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions”.

Last month, the US also introduced a pro-immigration Bill that proposed to relax norms related to green card and H-1B visas. The US Citizenship Act of 2021, if passed, will offer an eight-year path to citizenship for millions of people who are living in the United States unlawfully on January 1, 2021. The Bill is expected to provide a path to citizenship for an estimated 1.1 crore immigrants in the country.

The Biden administration’s stance on immigration policies is a stark departure from that of the one under Trump. In October last year, Trump had announced significant changes to the H-1B visa programme for high-skilled workers. It narrowed the eligibility criteria for applicants and raised the wages American companies would have to pay to hire foreign workers. In June, Trump had suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers.